Escalante, Utah. Beauty and Adventure Along 56 Miles of Road.
Hole-In-The-Rock Road, December 2025
A few years ago, I was fortunate to be able to join a backpacking group into Coyote Gulch. I was enchanted. So much concentrated natural beauty. I remember the long washboardy road and a vague recognition of trailheads along the way. This year I had the opportunity to revisit Escalante and Hole-In-The-Rock Road to explore more of this beautiful place.
This trip started out with a bang! First on the list was the Cosmic Ashtray. A witty name which translated better in the presence of its grandeur. At least the “cosmic” part. The blind approach made for an incredible reveal! Granted a wide-angle camera is not the proper tool for the job:
On our way out, we opted for a little side quest to find some dino tracks. Theropods perhaps? Pretty sure we found them, but what do you think? As an incidental observer of the arm-chair paleontologist, I’d say we succeeded in our search!
Next up, we made our way down to Crack-In-The-Wall trail, but we never really made it there. Instead, we decided to keep driving south until we could drive no more. The drive was beautiful. The only thing it left me wanting for was more time. Much more time.
The end of the road brought us to Hole-In-The-Rock. Much more interesting than I was anticipating! That seemed to be a theme. My expectations were routinely exceeded, and I could not be happier!
And the piece de resistance, Peekaboo Canyon to Spooky Canyon. So nice we visited twice. Despite what this wonderful region has to offer. While we did not make the formal loop from Peekaboo to Spooky, we got our fix of adrenaline and an oversaturation of eye candy. My soul was full!
We started out at the mouth of Peekaboo Canyon. The first feature just to get in was more technical that I expected. Despite what may have been my better judgement, I gave it a try. Glad I did.
Immediately, we caught up to the group in front of us which was navigating a small pool.
They were a graceful group.
They were graceful, willing, and prepared. All things I was not. With my objection for various reasons of unpreparedness, we turned back and made it out of the Canyon. Peekaboo was kind of a bust, so off to Spooky we went. What an incredibly neat slot canyon! The Canyon seems to go on and on. I was delighted by its endless narrow corridor. We only made it so far on our first try, but we came back for a second try which yielded more success.
Utah is such a beautiful state. My home state of California has abundant natural beauty and diversity, but the beauty of Utah just has me feeling like I am on another planet. Can’t wait for the next one!